HTML5

Today there was a rather important announcement made by Adobe regarding the amount of Flash that'll be found on mobile devices in the future: zero - and now that the public and the former leaders of Adobe have gotten full wind, the results aren't good. Of course it's been a point of contention whether or not flash should be on mobile devices for just about as long as there's been a concept of a smartphone, so the markets were bound to react to any sort of big change in the waters here in this situation, and it appears that Adobe really couldn't have gotten much worse of a reaction from stockholders.

Adobe has announced that it will no longer develop Flash Player for mobile devices, confirming rumors that it is shifting to HTML5 as its mobile platform of choice. "HTML5 [is] the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms" Adobe VP Danny Winokur said on the company's official blog, and the firm will work "with key players in the HTML community, including Google, Apple, Microsoft and RIM" to drive the standard further.

Adobe is reportedly preparing to announce it is ditching Mobile Flash development, with no further plans to push Flash Player for mobile devices. The decision, revealed to ZDNet by sources close to Adobe, will mean an end to the ongoing argument over whether Flash support on smartphones and tablets is a benefit to end-users or a hinderance, something which saw Adobe and Apple lock horns on a number of occasions. Moving forward, Adobe will concentrate on Flash on the desktop and using Adobe AIR and HTML5 for mobile deployments.

If you are, an avid reader one of the things that is most appealing about the Amazon online bookstore is that you can buy the book and then read it on a multitude of devices. The Kindle Cloud Reading app will let you read on computers, smartphones, and other devices including tablets. Amazon has announced a new supported browser for the Cloud Reader app.

Amazon is talking up the new features that it is adding to the Kindle Format 8 (KF8) upgrade for ebooks. The key feature is the support of HTML5 in the new format. That HTML5 support brings all sort of goodies with it that will make ebooks using the new KF8 format more interactive and exciting. HTML5 means support for CSS3, fixed layouts, embedded fonts, drop caps, floating elements, text on background images, lists and a bunch more.

Last time we talked about the new HTML5 version of Nokia Maps was when they first hit beta. Originally, the Nokia maps were only offered on Nokia branded devices. Nokia is now expanding the maps to allow them to work with other devices on the Android and iOS platforms. Some new features for the HTML5 version of the maps have surfaced.

Facebook's HTML5 app push, codenamed Project Spartan, looks set to launch next week, with a Monday unveil for the mobile platform - and the iPad Facebook app - tipped. The scheduling, so TechCrunch's sources say, is designed to offer Facebook a fallback option if Apple decides not to share stage-space with the social network at the iPhone 5 launch on October 4. Meanwhile, a prematurely posted (and subsequently yanked) Facebook page seemingly documented exactly what Project Spartan will offer to users and developers.

Pandora has been given an HTML5 revamp, speeding the online streaming radio site's interface and improving social sharing of personalized stations. Among the changes are a new shuffle button, which can juggle multiple stations to keep your musical style fresh, but perhaps most important to users is the removal of the listening cap. No longer are users limited to just 40hrs of play each month.

Facebook's Project Spartan will not make its debut at the social network's f8 conference, it's suggested, with the broad-reaching HTML5 venture instead expected to launch later in September or in early October. The slight delay from earlier rumors is down to Facebook's decision to extend Project Spartan to support the Android browser along with desktop browsers, TechCrunch reports, rather than solely the iOS browser on the iPhone and iPad as originally intended. Now, the project is expected to launch at a separate event a week or two following f8.

Nokia Maps will soon be getting an HTML5 version so that it can be used on all mobile operating systems, especially the popular iOS and Android platforms. Formerly known as Ovi Maps, Nokia's map service has had a long history on Symbian handsets and could potentially rival Google Maps.